Linking business strategy and IT strategy

This post is a continuation of "Writing IT strategy - From business priorities to the planning of IT actions".

The main picture from the previous post is extended to explicitly link move concepts (business strategic objectives, business initiatives, business capabilities, IT capabilities (generic supply), IT tools (specific supply) and IT programmes.

The logic of linking is the following:

1. each business strategic objective has its own corporate priority and is based on one or few business initiatives;
2. each business initiative has its own corporate priority derived from business strategic objective;
3. each business initiative requires a particular level of maturity of some existing or new business capabilities;
4. each business capability has its own current level of maturity (can be determined by experts) and the requested level of maturity (so a gap can be identified);
5. particular level of maturity for each business capability depends on a particular level of maturity of some existing or new IT capabilities;
6. each IT capability has its own current level of maturity (can be determined by experts) and requested level of maturity (so a gap can be identified);
7. each IT tool contributes into one or many IT capabilities;
8. each IT tool has its own current level of maturity (can be determined by experts) and requested level of maturity (so a gap can be identified);
9. each programme implements one or few IT tools, and
10. priorities of programmes are defined by the contribution into business priorities.

This is a possible way to "...setting out your logic about a choice in advance..." as recommended in "Strategy Is All About Practice".

Those explicit links can help you to find leverage points (thanks to Ivo @kvistgaard for "a strategy is a choice of leverage points"; see also http://www.thwink.org/sustain/glossary/LeveragePoint.htm) so you can do more with less.

Keeps the links systematically updated (especially after compelting IT projects) and watch for new leverage points. A strategy adjustment and validation becomes a routine on-going activity during its implementation (like functioning of the GPS navigator).

Thanks,
AS